States has come up with a new Covid-19 challenge: Americans are being given flu shots!

This is a precautionary measure taken to avoid the diseases during fall and winter

Health officials in the United States are in a hurry to get the citizens vaccinated for the flu so as to prevent health care facilities already filled by Covid-19 patients to be overrun by even more patients come flu season.

How schools reopening changed the scene

Bloomberg

Massachusetts has made it mandatory for every child who is going to attend school or childcare to get a flu shot prior to it. Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan got vaccinated on live television and urged the citizens to get immunised so that they can save precious hospitable resources. Both local and state health facilities are buying vaccine in large amounts and are hiring new staff to provide shots at senior residences and homeless shelters, and are making plans to start offering it at Covid-19 testing sites.

Arkansas health secretary Jose Romero stated that the U.S. health care system would be seriously affected if there is another surge in Covid patients when flu season hits.

To add to this, schools in many parts of the country are reopening and the risk of getting infected are rising. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has purchased over 20 times the normal amount of flu vaccine and is making an effort for the first time to fund state immunization messaging campaigns.

State health officials still have a tough time ahead as they will need to convince the public to overcome their apathy in taking flu shots. Less than 50 percent of adults take the shot, and CDC Director Robert Redfield hopes to raise it to 65 percent. New campaigns will be conducted and new partnerships will be made to distribute the flu shots around the country for the next couple of weeks.

 

(Cover: Getty Images)